Listen to A History of the World In Spy Objects: Simon Menner - The Coffee Pot

In the annals of Cold War-era intrigue, certain stories remain buried until they are unearthed by individuals with an eye for intrigue. Such is the case with artist Simon Menner, whose exploration of the German Democratic Republic's Stasi archives has brought to light a tale that hinges on an ostensibly ordinary, everyday object: a coffee pot.
‍

Stasi spies‍

Menner discovered a photograph from the 1980s buried in the Stasi secret police files and the fascinating backstory behind it.

The setting is East Berlin, a city divided by the infamous Berlin Wall. In this urban theater, the daily grind of an unassuming family and their home life include the mundane morning coffee ritual in the family kitchen. Look closer, however, and the coffee pot takes on an unexpected significance: the handle of the pot points to the left, a result of its left-handed user and her morning caffeine routine.

Unbeknown to the family, once they leave for work, school, and other commitments, Stasi agents regularly enter their apartment and warm up with a hot cup of coffee. They slipped out of the building soon afterward, careful not to leave a trace of evidence behind them - at least, that’s what the Stasi believed. 

The woman is the only one in her household who enjoys coffee. As she is left-handed, each morning, she leaves the coffee pot with the hand pointed left. Most nights, however, she returns home and notices the handle is pointed to the right.

Initially dismissed as a minor discrepancy, the coffee pot mystery evolves into a persistent suspicion that troubles her. Is she losing her mind? Is her husband playing games? He denies touching the coffee pot, but can she trust him?
‍

‍

Spy secrets revealed

As the years pass, the winds of change sweep through East Germany - 1989 is a year marked by protests, political reforms, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the aftermath of these historic events, the once-secret Stasi files are opened to the public. The woman's curiosity leads her to delve into the archives. What she discovers in her own file is shocking: a Stasi photo of her coffee pot.

Her husband, who died before the Wall fell, is revealed to have been a Stasi informant. The coffee pot's subtle rotations are not mere figments of her imagination. They are proof of his deception.

Simon Menner's tale of the coffee pot serves as a poignant reminder that, in the realm of espionage, even the most ordinary objects can harbor extraordinary secrets. Intrigued? Hear more. Listen to A History of the World in Spy Objects: Simon Menner - The Coffee Pot